BEA 2014: Short & Poehler Pick Up The Pen

Popular and pretty, short and sassy, two comedy stars make their author debuts.

Martin Short

Why did you write a book?

Let’s put it this way, the optional title for the books was If I’d Saved, This Wouldn’t Have Been Written.

What’s more difficult, doing comedy or writing?

Writing, because it’s hard to “mug” with words.

Will you give your book to your friends or make them buy it?

I have many friends who are now older. So I’ll make them buy it, and then in few days, remind them that I gave it to them.

Please tell us a couple of your favorite authors and books?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson, And “pop up” books because they always hold a sense of surprise.

How would you describe your book in a tweet?

“A brilliantly hilarious moving romp that leaves you with the sense that it’s better to have loved a Short than never to have loved a tall.”

You’ve done everything—TV, film, stage, and now a book—what do you want to do more of?

The stage has always been my first love, followed closely by film, TV, writing this book, and then my family.

Of your characters, do you have a favorite?

Ed Grimley.

Who is your favorite late night host?

Jack Paar.

How does one go from social work to the theater?

On the backs of the less fortunate.

Care to share a few tidbits from your nine-point weekly self-evaluation detailed in your book?

You simply must balance career with family. Unless, that is, you have an amazing, unstoppable career, like Oprah’s. In that case, who needs family? They’ll just get in the way.

Are you actually enjoying life? Are you having any fun?

The key to a happy lifestyle is to be prepared for whatever exciting things life has in store, and to act upon them. We’re all different. Some people are born great; others, such as Kim Kardashian, have greatness thrust into them.

Why should people read your book?

Monosyllabics tend to be less daunting.

Amy Poehler

Why did you write a book?

Somebody asked, and I said, “Yes, please.”

What’s more difficult, doing comedy or writing?

They are equally awful.

Will you give your book to your friends or make them buy it?

I will give my friends free copies of my book as long as they agree to play themselves in the eventual made-for-TV-movie.

Do you have to bring your lunch today, too, or will your publisher spring for it?

I lined my pockets with free buffet shrimp so I’m good.

Is there a difference between book fans and TV and movie fans?

I feel like book fans would have softer sweaters, but this is based on no real evidence.

Please tell us a couple of your favorite authors and books.

Stephen King, Pema Chödrön, Kurt Vonnegut, Anne Lamott, Judge Judy.

How would you describe your book in a tweet?

Want Hot Sexx? Click here!

How would you describe Marty in a tweet?

See above.

Most authors, somewhere in the publishing process, acquire an extreme disdain for one or more members of their publishing team? Whom do you disdain? Please name names.

I refuse to speak ill of any in the publishing world. But Jim in accounting can go suck an egg, and he knows what he did.

Who is your favorite late night host?

Robin Byrd.

Why should people read your book?

There are worse things to do.

How do you feel about it being the last season of Parks & Recreation?

Sad and grateful. It’s a job I never want to leave, and I am savoring every last moment.

Did you grow up in a town like Pawnee?

Yes. Burlington, Mass., was a small blue-collar town. We may not have had as many raccoons, but we hated the monsters that ran the library.

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